


A Rival, Nothing More

by ShinyRed



Category: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Thomas the Tank Engine - All Media Types
Genre: Another stupid AU because I have no self control, Rated T for swearing, this one will be smut free
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-06-24 23:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19734028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinyRed/pseuds/ShinyRed
Summary: Hear me out... what if... instead of Gordon and Henry being So Totally In Love... they were... not.I wanted to break my cycle of writing fics where Henry and Gordon are #couplegoals and are grossly in love. Give me the conflict, the slow build, the bad relationship that’s almost painful to read, that’s what I’m craving. This fic is literally me just breaking all my habits, shipping different people and switching up relationships, maybe throwing some angst and unhappy endings in there too. I hope you guys like it!TL;DR: An AU in which Gordon and Henry despise each other.





	1. Chapter 1: Something Isn’t Right Here

“They’re fighting again, aren’t they?” Edward asked, looking up from his coffee as James sulked into the break room.

“Ugh,” James groaned, “yes.” He took a seat beside Edward. “But are we surprised? They’re always at each other’s throats.”

Edward hummed in agreement as he set down his mug. “So what’s going on this time?”

“Gordon was late for the express this morning because he insisted his engine get its firebox cleaned out, so while Henry had to pull the express, Gordon took care of Henry’s jobs for today.”

“Ah, so that’s how the fight started.”

“No, actually, the fight started when Gordon insulted Henry’s ability to pull the express and blamed him for getting stuck with jobs he hates.”

“Oh dear,” Edward sighed. “Well, there’s only about an hour left until we can go home for the day, it’s not like their fight can get any worse.”

-

“Well maybe if you had the common sense to do these things the night before, you wouldn’t be forced to take someone else’s jobs because they’re busy taking yours!” Henry shouted, walking briskly to the locker room with Gordon right at his heels.

Gordon rolled his eyes with an annoyed huff. “Don’t lecture me about common sense,” he sneered. “You can’t even begin to know how to properly pull the express.”

Henry laughed harshly. “Oh that’s right, it’s not a job just any old engine can do.” He turned to shoot Gordon a glare over his shoulder. “Well, that sure didn’t stop me today, did it? I even got compliments from passengers, specifically about how much nicer I am than you!” Henry made a point to shut the door behind him, giving him a few seconds to put some distance between he and Gordon.

Gordon muttered something about indignity under his breath as he yanked the door open and entered the locker room, his and Henry’s shouts echoing from inside as the door slowly closed.

Across the hallway, Edward and James stood motionless, watching the scene unfold before them with wide eyes.

“I was wrong,” Edward said matter-of-factly, “it can get worse.”


	2. Chapter 2: Well, He Meant Well...

For once, the day was a quiet one. Henry and Gordon hardly saw each other all day, which meant no chance for either one to give the other any snide comments, much to the relief of the other railway employees. Even Cranky, the crane operator who _lived_ for petty workplace drama to spice up his day, was growing tired of their constant fights. On more than one occasion he had shouted at them to knock it off. “You know it’s bad when Cranky tells you to shut up,” Carly had laughed.

Edward hummed happily to himself as he gathered his things to head home. He looked up when Thomas entered the locker room, with Henry trailing behind him.

“I’ll have to check my calendar,” Henry said with a cheerful smile on his face, “but I’m sure I’ll be free Friday night.”

Thomas grinned. “Awesome!”

Henry laughed, a bubbly playful sound. “Thanks again for inviting me. I’ve been meaning to get out more anyway.” After changing out of his uniform, Henry gave a quick wave to Thomas and another to Edward, and left.

Sometimes Edward forgot that Henry could be a very sweet person, when Gordon wasn’t nearby.

“You’re invited too, Edward.”

Edward snapped back to attention. “Pardon?”

“If you’re free Friday night you can join us,” Thomas said happily. “It’s just going to be a couple of people from work getting together at the bar downtown. We’ll have a few drinks, maybe play some pool for a few hours. It’ll be fun!”

Edward smiled. It did sound like fun, and he always enjoyed spending time with coworkers outside of work. “Count me in.”

-

Usually Edward took his long walk home by himself, but tonight Thomas insisted they walk together. Edward welcomed the change. He always enjoyed talking with the young, bright eyed boy and looked forward to talking with him some more. The two chatted happily about work and personal life, taking in the view of the twilight sky blanketing the world above them as they walked down the sidewalk towards the glow of downtown.

“So,” Thomas said, trotting alongside Edward like an eager puppy, “do they always fight?”

Edward nodded, sighing. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them get along, and I’ve been working on this railway long before either of them.”

Thomas hummed thoughtfully. “What made them fight in the first place?”

“Well, they…” Edward paused. For the first time, he realized that in all his years working with the two, he had no idea what started their feud. “I… I don’t know.”

Cocking his head in interest, Thomas raised his brows. “Really? But you’ve known them for so long.”

Edward nodded again, looking up at the sky in thought.

“Any guesses?”

Edward shrugged. “It could be a number of things, Thomas. Maybe something happened on their first day working together, or perhaps one of them said something to offend the other.” He laughed, “Whatever happened, it’s clear that they can’t stand one another. I’m surprised one of them hasn’t quit yet, with how awful they are to each other.”

“So, do you think it was a bad idea to invite both of them to the get-together on Friday?”

Edward halted, staring at Thomas in shock. “What possessed you to do that?!”

“I just wanted to include everyone…” Thomas muttered, realizing his mistake upon seeing Edward’s reaction. “I figured it would be worse to not invite one of them.”

Sighing, Edward gave Thomas a reassuring pat on the back. “At least your heart was in the right place. Let’s just hope they have the decency to call a truce outside of work so as not to cause a scene.”

Thomas nodded, his smile returning.

“That, or pray that one of them doesn’t show up.”

-

Sitting on one of the (sticky, Henry noticed) barstools, he looked around at the group that had assembled in the bar. Donald and Douglas were animatedly telling a story to Duck and Oliver, Thomas was convincing a barely legal Percy to try a sip of whatever Thomas was holding, which Percy was politely declining, and Rosie was happily chatting with Molly and Emily over some colorful cocktails. Several others that Henry recognized had formed small groups throughout the place, some starting games of pool or darts.

Henry hoped the dart players weren’t intoxicated.

Glancing around the room, Henry guessed that nearly every railway employee was here in the bar.

The one person Henry didn’t see, however, was Gordon.

Either Gordon was skillfully avoiding him, or he hadn’t arrived. Maybe if Henry was lucky, he wouldn’t show up. _’Good,’_ Henry scoffed to himself. _’He probably told Thomas he had better things to do than socialize with the likes of us, the pompous asshole…’_

Henry was pulled out of his thoughts by James handing him a drink. It was clear and had mint leaves in it, with a lime perched on the rim of the glass. “How did you know I loved Mojitos?” Henry said with a smile.

“Lucky guess,” James said, plopping down on the stool beside Henry and taking a sip of his own very pink drink.

A Cosmopolitan, Henry noted. How fitting.

“So,” James toyed with the rim of his glass, lips pursed in thought, “think he’ll show up?”

“I hope not,” Henry sneered, taking a sip of his drink. “I’d prefer this evening to be a pleasant one, thank you.”

James’ eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. “Wow, I… didn’t know you felt that way about Edward.”

Henry could feel his face turning bright red. He hadn’t even noticed Edward wasn’t there. “I-I didn’t realize you were talking about-”

“Who were _you_ referring to?”

“...Gordon.”

“Oh, Gordon?” James jabbed his thumb over his shoulder towards a corner of the room. “He’s over there talking to Spencer and Scot.”

Sure enough, when Henry leaned over to take a look, there Gordon stood. _’How did I not see him…?’_

“Don’t worry,” James said reassuringly, making Henry wonder if his face was giving away what he was thinking, “I’m sure you two can manage to keep your distance from each other, there’s plenty of things to do and people to socialize with without running into each other.”

“James!” A voice across the room called. It was Emily, standing at one of the many pool tables while Rosie and Molly were setting things up. “Come join us, we need one more!”

James gave her a thumbs up before turning to Henry. “Want to come watch?”

Henry nodded, sliding off of his seat and following James. He didn’t make it very far, however, before he felt a hand on his arm stop him. Henry’s heart sank when he saw it was Spencer.

“Perfect timing,” Spencer said, gesturing behind him to the pool table, “we need a fourth. Care to join?”

Henry’s eyes darted over to Scot, who was giving him his signature dazzling smile, then to Gordon, who was looking away, likely avoiding eye contact. Henry was surprised Gordon wasn’t staring at him hatefully like he usually did whenever they crossed paths. “I’m not really any good at pool…” Henry said with a nervous laugh, wiggling his arm free from Spencer’s grasp.

Scot grinned. “Perfect! You can be on Spencer’s team.”

“Hey now,” Spencer glared at Scot, “we’ll be flipping a coin to decide teams, so don’t even try it.”

Henry looked to Gordon again, expecting him to object to Henry’s participation in some way. Or at the very least, make some sort of effort to find literally anyone else to play with them. To Henry’s surprise, Gordon said nothing. His expression was surprisingly relaxed, like he didn’t even know Henry was there at all. Gordon was aware who his brother and cousin were talking to… right?

“So what do you say?” Spencer said suddenly, startling Henry. He slipped an arm around Henry’s waist, leading him closer to the table. “Please, join us,” Spencer said with a smirk, lowering his voice.

“Oh, I don’t know-”

“So modest,” Spencer chuckled, pulling their bodies a little too close for Henry’s comfort. “Come on, I’ll make sure you have fun…”

Henry gave a polite smile. “Sure, I guess.”

“Wonderful.” Spencer’s smile was practically predatory, and it sent a shiver down Henry’s spine.

“If you’re finished flirting,” Gordon groaned, scowling at Spencer, “maybe we can hurry up and decide the teams?”

Instantly, Spencer yanked his arm away from Henry, stepping to the side and putting some distance between them. Though he would never admit it, Henry silently thanked Gordon.

-

Henry really shouldn’t have been surprised that he ended up on the same team as Gordon, the night was already weird enough as it was. What did surprise him was Gordon’s lack of protest, or his own lack of protest, for that matter. Why did he agree to this? It’s not like he was particularly close to Scot, and especially not Spencer. If he had been playing with James and Edward, his close friends, that would have made it worth having to spend time with Gordon. He didn’t think about it for too long, though, since Gordon had shoved a cue stick into Henry’s hands and startled him out of his thoughts.

“I hope you’re ready to lose,” Scot taunted, taking a shot and scattering the balls across the table.

Gordon smirked. “Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you.” Turning to Henry, he motioned for him to go next.

“I really wasn’t kidding when I told you I’m not any good,” Henry told Gordon quietly, taking his place to line up his shot.

Gordon gave a ‘hmph’ and crossed his arms. “Surprise, surprise. There’s not a lot you’re good at, is there?”

Henry had to fight his urge to throw an insult right back. Instead, he decided to play along, maybe throw Gordon off and ease the tension, if only just for tonight. Swallowing his pride, Henry gave a friendly smile. As friendly as he could manage, anyway. “Not really, no.”

This made Spencer and Scot burst into a fit of laughter. _’Ah, self-deprecating humor,’_ Henry thought as he took his shot. He did better than he thought he would; he didn’t sink any balls, but at least the cue made contact with the one he was aiming for.

With a pleased smile, Henry turned around, and saw that Gordon had a confused look on his face, like he was struggling to come up with something to say.

Looking behind him, Henry saw that Scot and Spencer were bickering about. He seized the opportunity and turned back to Gordon, lowering his voice. “Let’s just relax tonight. No fighting, no insults. I’ll play nice if you’ll play nice, deal?”

Something in Gordon’s expression changed. It became softer, more relaxed, though his lips were still pressed in a thin line. “Deal.”


	3. Too Good To Last

Edward pushed open the door to the bar, running one hand through his damp hair (damn his faulty hair dryer, of course it had to give up tonight of all nights). He was a bit more than fashionably late (again, damn that hair dryer), but judging by the sound, the night was just getting started. Looking around, he received a few friendly waves from familiar faces. A voice from somewhere in the room shouted: “Edward, there you are!”

Before Edward could locate the source of the voice, an arm was flung around his shoulder and pulling him further inside. “Boco!” Edward grinned, “I didn’t think you were coming.”

Boco gave Edward a wink. “I couldn’t miss a chance to catch up with everyone, it feels like it’s been years since I’ve seen some of you guys!”

Edward laughed. It did feel like it had been years.

“I’m glad I came, if I had missed this I would have missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness something truly nature-defying.”

“Oh?” Edward raised a brow, “And what would that be?”

Before Boco could answer, Edward’s eyes followed Boco’s gaze and landed on something that nearly made Edward gasp. Directly across from him, Gordon and Henry were playing pool and talking- _to each other_. Gordon was bent over, taking a shot at one of the balls while Henry watched him, the two saying something that Edward couldn’t quite catch, but soon the two were laughing. Together. Edward could hardly believe it.

“I know, right?” Boco laughed, making Edward aware that his jaw was hanging open in shock. “At first I thought I’d taken a few too many shots and was having hallucinations, but soon I realized that other people were seeing it too. What a surprise, isn’t it?”

“It certainly is a surprise,” Edward said. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the sight, as if he’d never get the chance to look at it again. Of course, the likelihood of Henry and Gordon ever getting along like this again was… not good, so maybe this would be Edward’s last chance to see this.

“It’s about time those two settled things. Let’s just hope this isn’t just a one night, alcohol-fueled truce,” Boco chuckled. He gave Edward a firm pat on the back. “I’d better get back to my game, I’m about to teach Bill and Ben how it’s done. Good seeing you!”

Edward gave Boco a halfhearted wave, still focused on Gordon and Henry. He walked over and leaned against a nearby support beam, watching the two as they played. They exchanged playful banter, taunted the other team together, Gordon even gave Henry some tips occasionally, which Henry gratefully accepted.

“Well well,” Edward tutted as he strolled over beside Henry, “seems I missed something. I suppose that’s what I get for being late.”

Surprised to see Edward, Henry greeted him with a smile. “You’re here!”

Edward smiled back, then leaned in close, lowering his voice. “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Henry replied, lowering his voice as well.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Henry. I’m talking about…” Edward trailed off, tilting his head in Gordon’s direction.

Henry shrugged. “I’m as confused as you are, but I’m not about to question it.”

“Fair enough,” Edward laughed. He’d talk more about it with Henry the next time they had a chance.

-

Soon, the night was coming to an end, and the bartenders began to shoo the crowd away as they closed up for the night. Everyone stood on the sidewalk outside and gave final goodbyes before they started to scatter, heading towards their respective homes.

Henry had just finished saying goodbye to Edward and James when he noticed Gordon coming his way. Unsure of what to do, he gave Gordon a half-hearted wave and turned to leave, but stopped when Gordon spoke up.

“I, uh, I live down this way,” he said. Keeping a few feet of distance between them, Gordon walked beside Henry, matching his pace.

Henry put on a friendly smile. “That makes two of us. I’m just a five minute walk down this road, I have an apartment in Elsbridge Terrace.”

“...Me too.”

Henry looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly. Was he _serious_? Henry had managed to go years without even running into Gordon at all outside of work, but one evening together and suddenly they were friendly, and _neighbors_?. “I didn’t know that.” When he got no response, he continued. “So, tonight was…”

“It was fun,” Gordon said hastily.

Fun. Not the word Henry was going to use, but he couldn’t say he disagreed. “Yes, it was. It was interesting.”

Gordon cocked his head, looking over at Henry. “Interesting?”

“Oh come on,” Henry rolled his eyes, “you know what I’m talking about. You and me, interacting with each other, claws put away. It was different. It was interesting.”

“It was nice,” Gordon mused, just loud enough for Henry to catch, but not loud enough to sound like he meant to say it. He seemed to realize his mistake immediately, a brief look of panic and shame coming over his face before he turned his head and cleared his throat. “No sense in ruining the evening Thomas so carefully organized, right?”

Henry offered a friendly smile. “I thought the same thing.”

Silence hung between the two as they continued walking.

‘ _This is weird,_ ’ Henry couldn’t help but think. It _was_ weird, being in Gordon’s presence and not once seeing him at least sneer in Henry’s direction. He kept trying to think of something to say, but he ended up pretending to be busy on his phone the whole time they were walking. He didn’t look, but he suspected Gordon had the same plan.

“So, how long have you lived here?” Gordon’s voice cut in, interrupting Henry’s thoughts.

Looking up, Henry realized they were only about a minute away. Henry could manage talking for that long. It was an easy question anyway. “I moved here a couple of years ago, after my old apartment building got foreclosed.”

Gordon winced. “That’s rough.”

“Yeah,” Henry said, unable to think of a better response. “What about you?”

“I’ve only been here for about a year. My old place was getting expensive, so I needed to downgrade.”

‘ _Downgrade._ ’ Henry knew the apartment complex was a shithole, but hearing Gordon insult it made him suddenly very defensive. He ignored the twinge of irritation and chose to assume Gordon didn’t mean it to sound so harsh. Henry could see his building coming up, so he didn’t have to bother thinking of a response. “Well,” he said in an attempt to cut the awkward tension lingering in the air, “this is my building.”

Gordon gestured a little way down the road. “Mine’s the last one on the right.”

‘ _Good_ ,’ Henry thought, relieved. “Well then, I guess I’ll, um… see you on Monday?”

Gordon nodded, and without another word he turned and walked down the road, leaving Henry to stand alone under the pale yellow street lamp to piece together everything that happened that evening to try to make sense of it all.

-

“So, it was your idea to be friendly for the night?”

Henry threw up his hands in exasperation. “I don’t know, maybe!”

“It’s weird that Gordon wasn’t even looking at you when you first came over,” Edward thought aloud, stirring his tea lazily. “In all the years I’ve known you two, you couldn’t even manage a passive glance. Someone had to at least narrow their eyes to remind the other how much they hated them.”

“Believe me, I know,” Henry mumbled. He slumped forward and rested his chin on his hand. “Maybe I should just ignore all of this. We were at a work social in a public place, I guess Gordon just had the decency to leave our personal baggage at the door.”

“Definitely not. If you two can’t behave yourselves while at work then why in the world would you even bother outside of work?”

Henry shot Edward an unamused glance. “Gee, thanks.”

“You’re not the victim in all of this,” Edward chastised Henry, “you’ve been a very willing participant in this little feud of yours. If I were to be honest, you and Gordon have both been childish and immature about all of this. I don’t know what started all of this, but surely it couldn’t have been enough to warrant such a grudge?”

This seemed to touch a nerve in Henry. Edward saw the change in Henry’s expression; his eyes hardened, and his eyebrows drew together in a way that was usually reserved for whenever Gordon was around. Henry had never looked this way at anyone else before. It always sent a chill down Edward’s spine to see the usually docile and friendly Henry turn so cold to Gordon, but to be on the receiving end of such a look for once…

Henry opened his mouth to speak, and Edward wondered for a moment if Henry was going to finally answer the question about what caused the rift between he and Gordon, but before he could say anything he shut it quickly, just as Edward heard the door close behind him. Without even turning around, Edward knew who had walked into the break room. The instant shift in Henry’s expression from stirring anger to curious but fearful silence told Edward everything.

As if Henry’s face weren’t enough of a giveaway, the sound of Gordon’s deep voice greeting them confirmed it.

Edward turned and gave Gordon a cheerful smile. “Hello Gordon, glad you could join us.”

“Oh, I’m not staying long,” Gordon said as he grabbed a water bottle from the small refrigerator. “The express is just ahead of schedule today so I have time for a quick break.”

Normally, Gordon would have taken the opportunity to throw a few insults at Henry, and Henry would have reciprocated without question. Edward was stunned at the silence hanging in the air. Having the two in the same room together felt almost unnatural. Edward looked over at Henry, who had his eyebrows raised and his arms held out in a sort of ‘see?!’ gesture.

“It’s been good seeing you,” Gordon said to no one in particular as he walked out, eyes trained straight ahead, not even sparing a glance at the two sitting at the table watching him as he left.

“That night must have been a fluke,” Henry sighed once the door was closed. “If he really wanted to turn over a new leaf he would at least talk to me, all he’s doing is ignoring me.”

Edward chewed his lip in thought. As much as he wanted to defend Gordon and hope things between the two were changing, Henry had a point.

Still, civil silence was better than all out war.

-

Days turned into weeks and soon, to everyone’s disappointment but no one's surprise, Gordon and Henry were back to their old ways. It started with throwing looks over their shoulders, then escalated to mumbling insults under their breath, until it all came to a head in the locker room as the two were leaving for the night.

(Chapter unfinished)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who don't follow me on tumblr, here's the abridged version of what's happening.
> 
> As of now, I'm not going to be uploading any new fics, and I may or may not finish the ones I've already posted here. I've just lost a lot of the motivation and ideas I once had for writing fics and exploring AUs and such. Maybe I'll return to my old inspired self, but for now it looks like I'm just going to finish what I can and yeet out of here. I'm not leaving the fandom, just taking a looong vacation from AO3 and fic writing in general.
> 
> I'm going to try to spend this week uploading all of the chapters and one-shots I have sitting in my google drive, just to relieve some of the pressure of having so many fics sitting abandoned and gathering dust. Some of them are unfinished, just a heads up, but I figured it would be better to post them as they are than to just keep them to myself and never let them see the light of day. Besides, I've put time and effort into these suckers, I'm not letting them go to waste.


	4. Final Chapter, For Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This skips waaay ahead in the story, I'm so sorry. I also had two ending planned for this fic, a good ending and a bad ending. I only got around to writing one of them, though, but I reall want to post them both. If any of my fics get completed first, it'll be this one. It's by far been one of my favorites to write, and I really want to see it completed.

Much to Gordon’s annoyance, Henry was already in the locker room by the time he got there. _’Wonderful.’_ He rolled his eyes and yanked open his locker, grumbling under his breath.

“What’s the matter, not happy to see me?” Henry's voice was light as he teased.

Taking a deep breath so as not to yell any more than he already had that day, Gordon forced himself not to turn around. Seeing Henry’s face, surely with a smug smile slapped onto it, would only set Gordon off. “Don’t. Just don’t even speak. Matter of fact, for the sake of my sanity and your safety, don’t speak to me ever again. Got it?”

“Oh don’t worry,” Henry said as he changed out of his uniform, “you won’t be hearing from me again. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”

As much as he didn’t care to talk to Henry, Gordon was curious about what he was referring to. “And that would mean…?”

“My engine is being moved to Vicarstown to make room for some new engines being added to the railway. Today is the last night it stays in Tidmouth Sheds.”

Gordon stopped, unsure if he heard correctly. “Wait, you’re… relocating?”

“Yep,” Henry deadpanned, shrugging on his jacket and shutting the door to his locker. “I happily volunteered and Sir Topham Hatt approved, since it’s more convenient for me anyway. And as a bonus, we shouldn’t be seeing each other at all anymore, unless we’re unfortunate enough to run into each other on the way home at the end of the day, like right now.”

Gordon should feel elated. For years, he’d dreamed of the day he was free of the annoyance of dealing with Henry. So why was he feeling this pain in his chest, as if what Henry had just told him was bad news? “So, this is goodbye?”

“Yes. You’re welcome.” Giving Gordon one final cold glare, Henry turned and headed outside.

Gordon watched as Henry walked out the door, the pain in his chest growing. Before he realized what he was doing, he found himself chasing after Henry, shouting at him to wait as Gordon ran to catch up.

“What?” Henry snapped, whipping around to face Gordon. “Want to get a few last jabs at my illness in before I’m gone? Maybe remind me about the time I was nearly killed when my engine derailed- no, wait, when _I derailed my engine_ with my incompetence?”

“That’s not-”

“No, really, go ahead. Get them all out while you can. Tell me how pathetic I am for running away with my tail between my legs because I’m sick of you making me feel like an idiot every day. Go ahead, I dare you.”

Jesus, he really had been a dick to Henry all these years. Gordon sighed. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

Crossing his arms, Henry narrowed his eyes at Gordon suspiciously. “Then what is it?”

Gordon shifted nervously. He hadn’t thought this far; he didn’t expect Henry to actually stop and hear him out. With a huff, Gordon straightened his posture in an attempt to look professional. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry you’re leaving.”

Henry laughed.

“I mean it,” Gordon said, looking at Henry sincerely. “I’ve grown-” _’fond of you,’_ “-so used to seeing you every day, it’s going to be hard adjusting to your absence.”

Henry snorted. “Oh yes, I’m sure finding someone else to be your punching bag will be a very difficult adjustment.”

Gordon sighed. He supposed he deserved that. “Good luck,” he said, surprising himself at how much he really meant it. He and Henry may not get along, but the more Gordon learned about Henry, the more he had grown to genuinely care about him, to a degree.

Henry nodded curtly. “You too.”

The thought that this might be the last time Gordon saw Henry sent a strange rush of panic through his veins. Soon, Henry would head home, and that would be it. No more fighting, no more hostility, no more Henry.

No more Henry.

In a moment of blind impulse, Gordon stepped forward and closed the distance between their lips, bringing one hand up to cradle the back of Henry’s head, the other resting on the small of Henry’s back. Gordon swore he felt a touch on his arm, but he was too busy melting into the kiss to pay it any attention.

Realization struck Gordon like a bus, and he immediately pulled back. The stunned look frozen on Henry’s face was all Gordon needed to realize how big of a mistake he just made.

Gordon paled. Suddenly, he was incredibly grateful at the idea of never seeing Henry again. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why, uh, don’t know what came over me- I need to go…” Gordon moved to run back inside but was stopped by Henry’s hand on his arm, holding him in place. _’Oh, I am so not in the mood to get grilled for this…’_ Gordon swallowed, waiting for the verbal onslaught he knew he deserved, but it never came. Instead, he was surprised to see Henry’s expression soften. Without a word, Henry closed the distance between them once again.

Never before had Gordon realized how much he wanted this, until now. Henry seemed to fit perfectly in his arms, their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces- rather, like the piece that completes the puzzle and puts everything into place.

Now Gordon was the one who looked stunned when he pulled away. His brow furrowed in silent question, the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat. Henry’s shy smile made Gordon’s heart skip several beats. He looked up at Gordon, his eyes sparkling.

“It’s about damn time.”

Gordon couldn’t help the relieved smile that spread across his face. “It really is,” he said, pressing his forehead to Henry’s before he was pulled into another kiss.

When they separated, their foreheads still touching, Henry’s smile faded. “I, um… I should probably head home.”

Gordon’s heart sunk. He didn’t want Henry to leave, not now that they’ve finally-

“Want to walk me to my bus stop?”

Gordon smiled, taking Henry’s hand in his and interlacing their fingers. “I’d love to.”

-

“So, have you always secretly liked me?” Henry said with a smirk.

“Oh, no. I couldn’t fucking _stand_ you.”

Henry did a double take. “But you…? Back there, you kissed me and-”

“Because,” Gordon chuckled, “I just wanted our stupid feud to end. I was so tired of hating you and always ending up in an argument every time we got within ten feet of each other. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

Henry gave a thoughtful ‘hmph’. “I guess that makes sense. Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?”

“Are you kidding?” Gordon balked. “And give you the satisfaction of seeing me surrender? I don’t think so.”

Henry laughed, putting an arm around Gordon’s shoulder as they walked. “You really are petty, you know that?”

Smirking, Gordon reciprocated the affection, wrapping one arm around Henry’s waist. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

“Oh hush," Henry snickered, shooting Gordon a playful glare.

Gordon grinned. “Make me.”

Accepting the challenge, Henry pulled Gordon in by the shirt collar and locked their lips, ending the kiss entirely too soon for Gordon’s taste as he kept walking with a smug smile on his face. A stunned Gordon trailed after him.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that.”

“You’d better.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I know nothing about working on a railway and it probably shows. Are break rooms a thing? Let’s make them a thing.
> 
> Chapters will eventually be longer, I swear.


End file.
